But I dont have an Amp for my Outlaw 950! (1 Viewer)

[Jaymer]

After half a year of waiting, and reserving, and ordering last week, i realize today that I actually need another amp to work with the Outlaw 950... I haven't felt so stupid since the day I asked what a "HTPC" was.

There's NO WAY the wife is gonna let me spend a ton more for an amp - certainly not the expensive Outlaw stuff. I'm thinking about getting the 1050 now.

SO, what cheap, used Amps can I look for to make this thing work? And what will not work?

i need suggestions - tia!

jaymer...

 

[John Tompkins]

You will actually need 7 channels of amplifiaction if your going to use dd ex, so a good choice would be a two channel and a five channel amp. The sherwood am9080 5 channel amp is an excellant amp and can be had for around 400.00. Used amps in my opinion are the way to go as not much can go wrong with an amp once you get it to your doorstep. I would suggest looking at audiogon.com or ebay...

 

[Jaymer]

Hi John,

thx for your reply - I hope i get more suggestions.

I checked the am9080 and can't find anything available - I think I'd buy that for $400 if I could find one.

jaymer...

 

[John Morris]

Jaymer: if you don't need two center rear channels, and have pretty efficient speakers, and, don't play your system at very high levels, then check this out: Parasound 806 Amp
However, I cannot vouch for either the seller or for this individual amplifier, so be careful!

 

[Brian Bunge]

Jaymer,
You can find the am9080 here!
Brian

 

[Ron Alcasid]

Does your reciever have preamp outs? If yes, I would get the amp first then the preamp.

 

[Miles]

This may seem like a stupid question as I've never owned seperates... just cheap receivers. But if you only need six channels of sound from the Outlaw 950 for DTS5.1 and DD5.1 etc., could you just use a basic receiver with 6-channel inputs.... like the later Pro-logic receivers which had the six-channel inputs for the external Dolby-digital/DTS decoders.

Thanks for any response,

Miles

 

[Philip Hamm]

Take Brian's advice and get that AM9080. It's a monster amp.

Miles, you can do this theoretcially, but why bother?

 

[Miles]

Good question Philip... I'd love to have the 950 and then get a 770 when I have the money. My immediate need is for component switching for 480p DVD and 1080i Sat. Plus my current receiver is extremely cheap. I had been looking at Denon receivers after finding out Marantz's may not have the bandwidth for 1080i. If the Outlaw 950 would work in my situatio, it would offer me the switching and decoding options I want and allow me to do away with my crappy receiver at a later date.

I do realize that the Outlaw probably wouldn't increase the quality of my audio until my amplification is upgraded...

Later,

Miles

 

[Philip Hamm]

I was considering the same thing with my Onkyo receiver before I got my separates for the same reasons. However, my old Onkyo 919 has a pre-out post-in loop which makes it much easier to implement as a power-amp.

 

[Camp]

Take Brian's advice and get that AM9080. It's a monster amp.

After seeing that sexy $400 price I did some searches for AM-9080 reviews. The bulk of the reviews I found were not at all flattering. A Brittish review trashed it so bad I got embarrassed for Sherwood.

Is this typical for this amp or is Google just spitting out negative reviews at me?

 

[Brandon_H]

I have a Parasound HCA-855A. It's only 85 watts into 5 channels, but it's plenty enough for me. It's a solid little amp, and you should be able to find it for less than $500 now (new).

 

[MarkO]

I have a harman/kardon PA-5800 im going to sell for 300.00 inc shipping if youre interested.

 

[TomH]

TSTO has a B&K Video 5 for $499.00. You should be able to find the Marantz MM9000 for between $500 and $600. Audiogon always has plenty of used amps at reasonable prices.

Tom

 

[Robert_Gaither]

AMC is another brand to consider as well just simply do a search on Yahoo shopping for either the 25100 (about $399 + shipping 5/100wpc) or 2n100-5 (about $599 + shipping 5/150wpc). You can also buy their 2-channel amp for about $216 + shipping as well (2/100wpc plus it can bridge for 250w). I assume you might can find these dirt cheap used as well since the price I'm quoting is what I saw at yahoo recently.

 

[Jaymer]

I appreciate all these suggestions - but I'm dead meat - no way is the wife letting me spend any more money buying an amp, much less 2 amps to get 7 channels (which is what I've been holding out for, rear channel(s))

i feel like just getting the Outlaw 1050 now, or the Onkyo 787 I've wanted for over a year or... well, crap, now I'm back in the stupid receiver market and have to start all over again with research and reading reviews. This is SUCH a let down for me - I don't know how I could have thought the stupid 950 was the replacement/next model for the 1050, but thats the impression I was under.

crap crap crap crap

 

[Philip Hamm]

A Brittish review trashed it so bad I got embarrassed for Sherwood.

After living with the 9080 I feel embarrassed for the publication who issued that article. It is completely and utterly full of shit and they have no credibility with me. The AM9080 may not be an "audiophile's dream" but it's a solid amp.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

I'd jump all over the PA5800 if I were you!

 

[John Tompkins]

I'll second the sherwood am9080 recommendation. I'v been through about 10-12 different amps, many much more expensive then the 9080. My opinion is that it is an incredible good deal, great warm sound, build quality etc. Sometimes you have to test for yourself.

 

[Serge Breton]

Jaymer,

I would have to agree. If you are getting the 950, it would be important to mate this processor with other good electronics including a quality amplifier for obvious reasons. However, if you cannot fit a $500 multichannel amp into the budget then i would have to say buy a decent receiver and use it as a propro later when funds become available or get the 950 then slowly buy your amplifiers, a couple of channels at a time.

I would go with the later myself, i would much rather get the 950 and a good power amplifier for the time being then when funds become available, add more amplification for the other channels. Sure you will be limited to only 2 channels at first but keep in mind that that with the seperates route you can upgrade a little at a time while with a receiver, when IT becomes obsolete or inadequate you have to spend more $, scrap what you currently have then upgrade to another receiver or whatever. Also, if you buy a receiver now, sell it in a few months or a year then buy what you really wanted in the first place, you will likely be paying more than if you initially went the seperates route. Keep in mind that cables are also needed between the processor and amp and decent cables are not cheap either. This also adds to the cost(say an extra $50-$100 minimum)Just a thought.

If it were me i would go over the budget and bear the consequences with the wife after but that's just me. It's like i told my wife, the 950 is the cheapest processor on the market at $899, the next processor up the ladder at the time i told her this was the B&K reference 30 at $2800 so she understood the math there and at the same time i was confident that the 950 would be the B&K's equal. Reports from beta testers indicate that the 950 is better in many ways so i should not be disappointed with this processor at 1/3 of the price of the B&K!

Decisions, decisions huh Jaymer. No really, sit down with the wife and talk about it. Tell her for example that you are going over budget initially but won't have to upgrade for a couple/maybe several years while if you were to go the receiver route, upgreaditis could occur rather quickly which would mean more $ later. It always ends up costing more to buy something you don't REALLY want then upgrade later. I have learned this through trial and error, which is to go 20-30% over budget and buy something you will be happy with rather than SETTLING for something below your expectations. Whether this means going the receiver or seperates route, only you can answer this.

My funds are rather depleted too after my recent home theater remodel but rest assured i made room/funds available for my Outlaw 950. Good luck with the wife!